Invisible Enemy
by SSBFreak
Summary: Falco needs to watch his back constantly, especially now that he's married and has someone else he needs to look after. You can't be too careful when you have a chameleon as your enemy, after all...


The Starfox Team never expected Falco to settle down and get married, let alone to Katt Monroe.

It all happened out of the blue, as well. Falco hadn't even told his friends that he was planning on proposing before doing so. That being said, this was just like Falco, who preferred to improvise rather than stick to a plan.

Sure, Falco was a hotshot that tended to let his mouth run before his brain could catch up, but he always preferred to live life flying through space and taking on whatever challenge lay ahead of him. Apparently, this included dropping down on one knee and offering a ring to Katt, a longtime (albeit freelance) ally of the Starfox Team.

Truth be told, the team knew that if Falco were to ever settle down with a girl, it would probably be with Katt. The two would banter back and forth constantly whenever they were on missions, although the words would often be interpreted as flirting. Years of this eventually got the two to start dating officially and ended up leading to the proposal.

The wedding was fairly big, considering that the Starfox Team didn't know many people outside of their clients. Obviously, Peppy and Slippy's families were there, and General Pepper had arrived (with an escort, obviously) along with a number of his men (Bill Grey included), many of which Fox and the others had saved during the war on Andross. To be fair, the team mainly expected their wedding receptions to solely consist of themselves, so seeing their friends and family out was a pleasant surprise to the team.

Married life didn't affect their flying behaviors, though. Falco was still a hotshot pilot and Katt would always be willing to lend a paw when needed (if only for the chance to have a bit of friendly flirting with Falco), which tended to happen more often than it used to. Not that Fox didn't appreciate the help, though; Some of these new creeps they were clashing with were tough.

While they would constantly butt heads out in the field, the team knew that Falco and Katt loved each other. They were always the first to act when the other was put into some kind of danger or badmouthed by a random thug. Fox could actually still remember what happened to one creep that made a few snide remarks about Katt while in Falco's earshot. The avian pilot had been on him in seconds and it took the combined forces of Fox, Bill and Slippy to pry Falco off the drunken sleaze.

Finally, despite all their bantering and clashing, Falco and Katt would prove to be an unstoppable team in the field. Their unparalleled flying and dogfighting abilities proved to be a deadly combination and many missions that the team took on would only be accomplished with the assistance of Katt and the team dynamic she had with Falco. Fox had offered Katt a permanent spot on Starfox numerous times, only for the pink feline to turn him down, saying that she preferred to do things on her own. Even still, she would always be there when the team really needed her; Slippy would often joke that she had a sixth sense that told her whenever Falco needed her, but Fox sometimes wondering if that actually was the case. Katt had always been able to show up whenever the team least expected it, always to lend a paw for whatever the team was doing.

Maybe that was why the two ended up married. Fox and Slippy would always joke that they bickered like an old married couple anyway, much to Falco's great annoyance. Plus, the two were never ones to take things slow, as the wedding had happened only a short while after the initial proposal.

And if that wasn't enough, it was soon discovered afterwards that Katt was pregnant. Katt was still able to pilot her ship for the first while, but once she was a few months along, she was told that she couldn't do any more flying until after she delivered. Katt didn't like being out of a cockpit for so long, but always knew that it was for the best since she wanted her child to be born healthy.

Falco's demeanor had also changed once this happened. Once Katt had become pregnant enough to stay out of her ship, Falco refused to leave her side. Fox would often tease Falco for this, saying that he was whipped or something along those lines, at which point Falco would often retaliate with his relationship with Krystal, and that would usually get Fox to leave him alone.

Currently, Katt was six months along, and she was taking a stroll through a park on Corneria with Falco. The two had been making this a routine lately due to Katt not being able to get much exercise otherwise.

"So what have we decided for a baby name, yet?" Katt asked.

"You mean 'names', don't you?" Falco asked with a smirk. "The doctor DID say we were having twins, didn't he?"

"I suppose you're right." Katt shrugged with a chuckle. "We're going to need to decide on names, though."

"We've still got some time. It's only been six months." Falco noted. "We need to make sure we make the right choices."

Falco and Katt continued their walk at a slow pace, as Katt's pregnancy was keeping her from walking any faster. However, while Katt was continuing to talk about baby names, Falco's senses perked up, suddenly sensing something out of the ordinary. Looking around suspiciously, Falco stopped walking.

"Um…Falco? What's wrong?" Katt asked.

"Hang on…" Falco said, a feathered hand hovering over his blaster.

Seeing that Falco was looking tense, Katt started looking around as well, beginning to look worried. It was obvious that Falco saw something, but she wasn't sure what.

"What is it, Falco?" Katt asked again.

Falco didn't answer Katt, his desire to protect her kicking in. Falco suddenly drew his blaster, firing it at a tree. The shot exploded on impact and left a large burn mark on the trunk of the tree.

"I know you're here, Powalski!" Falco shouted to the wind.

"Hmm…I must be slipping…"

Katt watched as a chameleon suddenly appeared from the bushes, a crooked smirk on his face.

"Tell me. What gave me away?" Leon asked Falco. "Did I snap a twig?"

"No. I smelled your favourite knife." Falco said, eyes narrowed.

Leon pulled his knife from his pocket, revealing an old, unwashed knife coated with blood; Several different types of blood, in fact. "I suppose I should wash it, but then I'd be taking away all the memories."

"Powalski, if you're here to try and attack me, I'm not in the mood." Falco said, pistol trained on Leon's head.

"Please, bird. If I was here to kill you, you'd already be dead." Leon said. "No. I'm just here for a chat."

"I find that unlikely." Falco said.

"I have to admit that seeing you married is surprising, bird. You're the last one I'd see actually settle down with a girl." Leon smirked.

"I get that a lot."

"Still, I'm a little disappointed that you never invited me to the wedding." Leon said. "What? Did all of our encounters mean nothing to you?"

"You tried to shoot me down several times and cackled about torture the entire time doing it!" Falco shot back. "The last place I want a psychopath like you is at my wedding!"

"Looks like you've been busy, too." Leon smirked, seeing the very-pregnant Katt. "Tell me, what do you think the baby will look like, anyway? A feathered feline? A hairy bird, perhaps?"

"That's none of your business!" Falco said. "Now tell me why you're here! You don't come all the way to Corneria just to talk to me!"

"Call it keeping you on your toes, bird." Leon replied cockily. "You're the only one I've seen that's able to keep up with me and provide a challenge. I want to keep you on your toes for when you return to the field."

"Well, don't I feel special?" Falco muttered. "But whatever feud you have with me, leave my wife out of it!"

Leon appeared to be in thought before smirking. "I don't know. Things would be so much more interesting if-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, lizard!" Falco roared. "Leave Katt out of this!"

"I'm more than capable of handling myself, Falco." Katt noted.

"Not against Leon, you're not." Falco shook his head.

"Smart bird." Leon said. "But you know what? Maybe I WILL leave her out of this and keep things between us. Consider it a wedding present from me."

Falco kept his pistol trained on his chameleon. "You'd better keep your word, Powalski." He said. "You step near my family once and I will end you!"

"My. I've never seen this type of anger from you." Leon noted. "Married life really HAS changed you, hasn't it?" The chameleon didn't get an answer, and Falco simply continued to train his gun on him. "Put that gun away, bird. I've already told you that I'm not here to kill you."

"I'll only put my gun away when you leave and I can't smell the stench of your knife anymore." Falco replied.

"I'm going. I'm going." Leon replied, backing away. "Good to see that you're still keeping yourself on your toes, by the way. I'm looking forward to seeing you back in the cockpit of an Arwing again. I'm starting to miss the challenge."

"I'd say the feeling was mutual if I didn't hate your guts." Falco said.

Leon smirked. "I'll be seeing you, Lombardi." He said. "Watch your back."

With that, Leon vanished into the shrubbery, his chameleon talents of camouflage kicking in. A few painful and agonizing moments later and Falco lowered his gun, the rancid smell from Leon's weapon now gone.

"He's gone." Falco said, shoving his blaster into its holster again.

"That was…Interesting." Katt noted. "Is he trustworthy, though?"

"Not in the slightest, but he knows that I'm just as capable as he is. He also knows that I was dead serious in my threat." Falco said. "Hopefully, you won't have to worry about him."

"Well, I appreciate the concern, flyboy." Katt said with a sly smirk. "Even though I'm sure I can handle myself against him."

"I don't want to take that chance." Falco shook his head.

"Who knows? Maybe one day in the future, while you two are in a dogfight and he's close to beating you, maybe I'll swoop in and shoot him down myself." Katt said.

Falco sighed. "You'd probably never let me hear the end of it, either." He said.

"You're darn right." Katt said. "Now, shall we get back to the walk?"

"Sure thing." Falco said. "Where were we?"

"Baby names."

With that, the couple continued their walk, as if completely forgetting their encounter with Leon in the first place. Married life may have changed Falco's perspective, but with a homicidal maniac as a rival, he'd need to keep his eyes open more often.

Not just for his own sake, either…

END


End file.
